The reigning Miss France says negative comments about her body hurt her much more than protests over her pixie haircut after winning the country’s national beauty pageant.
Eve Gilles’ short hair caused a storm when she was won, with 7.5 million people tuning in to watch, back in December 2023, and trolls said her hair was “too youthful”; one viewer was so outraged that a woman could be considered attractive. with short hair asked ‘Is this a joke?’
Many critics felt that the type of long hair favored by previous winners (and Gallic female icons such as Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve) would have been much more appropriate than the University of Lille student’s short pixie cut.
Pictured at the French Open earlier this month, Eve Gilles sparked a backlash after winning the Miss France beauty pageant because of her short hair, but says the ‘tsunami’ of abuse over her body in a suit bathroom hurts more.
The public, whose vote counted for 50 percent, put Miss Guyana and Miss Guadalupe ahead of Eve, but critics claimed that the all-female judging panel was motivated by “wokeness.”
No short-haired woman had ever reached the final of the 103-year-old contest before.
Six months later, the furor has almost died down and Gilles, seen enjoying the first week of the French Open, has been named a mathematics ambassador by President Macron, as the French leader tires of encouraging more young women to study. STEM subjects.
Reflecting on the protest in a new interview with The timesThe 21-year-old says comments about her physique were much more distressing than opinions about her hair.
The vile comments intensified after photos of her in a swimsuit during a photo shoot in Guyana were published.
In a new interview with The Times, Gilles (pictured), 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France, says vitriolic comments about his pixie hair upset his mother.
Miss France contestants on stage wearing matching jumpsuits with gold tassels during the December 2023 final
Eve Gilles, 20, was crowned Miss France before 7.5 million viewers and has since been named an ambassador of mathematics by President Macron.
Gilles, who says he weighs about 7.5 pounds, told the newspaper: “I chose my hair. I didn’t choose my body or my metabolism. It was body shaming.”
The backlash against her hair, she says, began as soon as she advanced in the regional rounds. She says, “It was like a tsunami was coming up behind you; you don’t see it, but you know it’s right here.”
When she was crowned, Gilles responded to the avalanche of criticism she received, saying: ‘We are used to seeing beautiful ladies with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair’ and added: “No one should dictate who you are.”
While things have improved with Macron’s call, and fans have said Miss France won a victory for “diversity,” the math whiz says the trolling was hard to ignore in the days and weeks after the call. competence.
Eve opened up about how she faced body shaming during her journey to becoming Miss France
Eve Gilles (left), pictured being crowned Miss France 2024 by Miss France 2023 Indira Ampiot (right), at the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon.
And he continued: ‘Sometimes it has been very difficult. I’m human and at first especially it was very disturbing for my mother. But I got over it and when she saw that I was fine, she was fine too.”
Gilles says he has never suffered any face-to-face abuse, stating: “No one has the courage.” People just say they love me.
Their height was also analyzed; Contestants in the prestigious contestants must be at least 5.57 feet (1.7 m), but Eva was only 5.56 feet (1.695 m).
Gilles, from Quaedypre, a village near Dunkirk, said he “gained back the missing millimeters by stretching.”
An image first published in Eve’s local newspaper, La Voix du Nord (The Voice of the North), shows her beaming at the camera as a child, dressed as a beauty queen.
Beauty pageant winner photographed with longer hair before cutting it before the competition.
‘I dreamed of being Miss since I was little,’ she said, but ‘as I got older I didn’t really know how to start’ and I wanted to feel ‘good in my body, good in my head.’
“These are things we learn to live with and I don’t understand how we can criticize something we can’t change.”
Eve was born in Dunkirk and grew up with her surveyor father, Bruno Gilles, her mother, Edith Gilles, and two older sisters, who helped her cope with the pressure. Eve’s mother is from Réunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, and she met Bruno when he moved to northern France for work.
The beauty pageant winner started dancing at the age of four and is also passionate about horse riding.
After high school in Dunkirk, Eve wanted to be a neurologist, before changing her university studies from medicine to mathematics and computer science.
Halfway through the 2021 academic year, Eve returned home and decided to apply for a place on the mathematics course at the University of Lille.
She worked for a year in an egg factory and now wants to be a statistician.
While waiting to resume her studies, Eve worked at an egg factory near her parents’ house, which involved working shifts at all hours of the day.
Newly elected Miss France 2024, Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais Eve Gilles (left), celebrates winning the title with Miss France 2023, Indira Ampiot (R), on stage during the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon , central-east. France, December 16
When asked if she thought beauty pageants were outdated in and of themselves, Eve responded: “My answer is that if it’s cheesy, why do so many people still watch it?”
‘If it’s cheesy, why do so many girls keep showing up? This is a great opportunity for us. For me, Miss France also embodies a part of feminism. They are young women who decided to participate on their own.’
Angry comments on Twitter/X included: “She looks nothing like a Miss France” and “We don’t care about her haircut, but the androgynous body is obviously there to wake us up.”
However, critical voices were soon drowned out by a wave of support for the newly crowned Miss France.
One fan wrote: “Maybe the new #MissFrance isn’t beautiful in your eyes, but seeing the wokeness in her because she has short hair… It’s just ridiculous.”
Another added: “Eve Gilles is the new Miss France 2024, her malicious and useless criticism won’t change that, it’s sublime.”
“Eve Gilles isn’t even trans, she’s never claimed to be trans, but half the comments about her are transphobic because she has short hair,” said a third.
Eve Gilles is seen performing during the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon.
MP Sandrinne Rousseau also came to Ms Gilles’ defense, saying: “So, in France, in 2023, we measure the progress of respect for women by the length of their hair.”
Another MP, Karima Delli, wrote: ‘Great support for Ève Gilles, #MissFrance2024, in the face of hateful tweets on social media of incredible violence!
‘Swallow your poison, she is not only magnificent, but Miss Nord pas de Calais is smart to embrace her diversity!’
After Eve’s victory, the mayor of Quaëdypre said France blue: ‘The entire commune is happy to see the reactions of all the people present in the broadcast.
Eve Gilles poses on stage with her crown and a bouquet of flowers after her victory.
Miss France 2024, Eve Gilles, is seen on stage during the beauty pageant.
‘I didn’t sleep much, but we’ll sleep tomorrow. It’s a pride, I’m 74 years old and it’s the first time I’ve had a Miss in Quaëdypre.’
Miss France organizers also hailed the election as a victory for the kind of diversity the pageant has been seeking in the face of feminist attacks since the 1970s.
Last year she opened the pageant to transgender women, but kept the 5-foot-7-inch height qualification. During their 12-month reign as Miss France, winners are not allowed to gain weight, show tattoos or, most importantly, change their hairstyle.
